Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday said the selection of 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee Paul D. Ryan was the “end” of the campaign for Republicans because of the perceptions surrounding Mr. Ryan and entitlement spending.

“Every single other candidate is going to cut the hell out of your Social Security,” Mr. Trump said in response to a question about the program at an event in South Carolina.

“Remember the wheelchair being pushed over the cliff when you had Ryan chosen as your vice president? That was the end of that campaign, by the way, when they chose Ryan,” Mr. Trump said. “And I like him — he’s a nice person — but that was the end of [the] campaign.”

“I said you got to be kidding,” Mr. Trump said. “[Because] he represented cutting entitlements, etcetera, etcetera. The only one that’s not going to cut is me.”

Mr. Ryan, who was elected speaker of the House last year, was chairman of the House Budget Committee when 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney chose him as his running mate.